Self-opening envelope

ABSTRACT

A self-opening envelope including a string means secured to the interior surface of the envelope at the fold of the flap and having a tab secured to its free end and positioned under the flap of the envelope. By removing the tab from under the envelope flap, the string can be pulled along the fold of the flap to tear the same and open the envelope.

United States Patent Stern [15] 3,655,120 [451 Apr. 11, 1972 [54] SELF-OPENING ENVELOPE [2]] Appl. No.: 21,456

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 804,998 5/1951 Germany ..229/86 1,020,069 2/1953 France ..229/86 534,150 l/l955 Belgium ..229/86 Primary Examiner-Joseph R. Leclair Assistant Examiner-Stephen Marcus [52] [1.8. CI An r ey Cu hman, Darby & Cushman [51] Int. Cl ..B65d 27/38 of Search 86, 5] S, [56] References Cited A self-opening envelope including a string means secured to the interior surface of the envelope at the fold of the flap and UNITED STATES PATENTS having a tab secured to its free end and positioned under the 3,055,575 9/1962 Gerald ..229/51 S flap of the envelope. By removing the tab from under the en- 3.246,833 6 SChI H et l-- 229/5 5 velope flap, the string can be pulled along the fold of the flap 1,934,098 1 H1933 Smith et al ..229/86 to tear the same and open the envelope. 3,057,539 10/1962 Leary, Jr ..229/86 3,494,538 2/ 1970 Matthews ..229/86 12 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures A 4 L22 0% 2 41 4 -16 a a?! +1 ,7 -44 SELF-OPENING ENVELOPE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an envelope and more particularly to a self-opening envelope.

Attempts have been made in the past to make a satisfactory self-opening envelope, but such attempts have met with failure. For instance, the self-opening envelope shown in German Pat. No. 804,998 of May, 1951, discloses an envelope in which the tab and attaching string are left exposed on the back surface of the envelope body when the envelope is sealed. In such a construction, the tab and string can easily be detached, accidentally or otherwise, from the back of the envelope body. During the course of mailing, the string and tab can easily become entangled with other letters, mailing devices, and/or automated machinery. The result is simply an unsatisfactory envelope. Other attempts to devise a self-opening envelope resulted in mechanical complications which unduly increase the cost of manufacturing the envelope.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention involves a self-opening device for an ordinary envelope, which device overcomes the defects of the prior art. The self-opening envelope of the present invention includes a string means having a first portion secured to the inside surface of the envelope at the fold of the flap and having a second portion extending beyond the fold of the flap and secured to a tab means. The second portion of the string as well as a part of the tab are positioned in such a manner as to be covered by flap when the flap is closed. The protection given to the second portion of the string means and the tab by the flap eliminates the problems which accompanied the prior art for many years. The present invention prevents the tab and second portion of the string from being caught by other devices during mailing of the letter. Moreover, the obvious advantages of a self-opening device are retained, not the least of whichis the fact that the contents of the envelope are not ripped during opening. It is further apparent that there is no necessity of altering envelope machinery to incorporate the self-opening device.

These and other objects of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a rear plan view of the back side of an envelope showing the flap in an open position in full lines and the flap in a closed position in dotted lines;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary rear plan view of another embodiment of the envelope shown in the same position as in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary rear plan view of the envelope showing the tab in operation during the opening of the envelope; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of the tab.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. 1, the self-opening envelope comprises an envelope body 12 and a closable flap 14. The envelope body 12 comprises three closed edges, 16 and 18 being the side edges, and 20 being the bottom edge. In addition to the closed edges, there is the usual open edge 22 which is readily exposed to view by having a portion 24 of the back side 26 of the envelope body 12 cut away in the usual manner. The front side 28 of the envelope body, the inside surface of which is shown in FIG. 1, is adapted to have the usual address and postage placed thereon.

The closable flap 14 is integrally secured to the front side 28 of the envelope body along the open edge 22. This juncture of the flap and open edge of the front side of the envelope body defines the fold 30 of the closable flap. Adhesive means 32 is secured to a portion of the flap, and preferably along its exterior edge 34, for enabling the flap to be sealed to the back side of the envelope body when the flap is closed.

String means 36 is secured to the inside surface of the envelope at the juncture of the closable flap and the open edge, i.e., at the fold 30 of the flap 14. The string means 36 comprises a first portion 38 which is secured by adhesive or glue along the inside surface of the fold 30. A second portion 40 of the string means 36 extends beyond the first portion 38 and is bent backwards with respect to the first portion 38 to form an acute angle 42 therewith. The free end 44 of the second portion of the string means is secured to a tab 46.

The tab 46 preferably has a finger index means comprising a cutout 48 along the inside edge 50 of the tab and facing away from the adjacent side edge 18 of the envelope. This cutout portion 48 enables the tab to be easily gripped by one '5 finger for a purpose to be described hereinafter.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show two embodiments for securing the tab 46 to the envelope prior to scaling the closable flap. In FIG. I, the tab is secured to the back side 26 of the envelope body by adhesive or glue, shown in dotted lines at 52. It will be seen from the dotted outline of the flap in FIG. 1 that the second portion 40 of the string means 36 and a portion of the tab 46 lie under the flap when closed. Thus, it is highly unlikely that the second portion 40 of the string means and the tab 46 will become snagged on other devices during mailing. On the other hand, FIG. 2 discloses another embodiment of the invention in which the tab 46 is secured to the flap. Again, the second portion 40 of the string means lies contiguous to the flap as does a portion of the tab which is secured to the flap by adhesive. The adhesive used to secure the tab to the flap could comprise supplemental adhesive added to the flap for that purpose or, preferably, the adhesive could comprise the free end of the adhesive strip 32 extending along the edge 34 of the flap. It will be seen that in this embodiment the standard envelope can be easily adapted for use with the opening device. When the tab is initially secured to the back side of the envelope body, it could also be secured by the adhesive on the flap when its is closed. The second portion of the string means could also have some slight amount of adhesive secured to it for holding it against the back side of the envelope body or the tab, depending upon the embodiment being used.

The quantity of adhesive used to secure the tab to the envelope is such that the tab can be released when desired. As shown in FIG. 3, the tab and the second portion of the string means are removed from underneath the closed flap and are pulled against the closed fold 30 of the sealed envelope to rip open the same. Accordingly, the contents within the envelope are not ripped during the opening of the envelope.

The string means 36 could comprise a fiber or nylon thread which is glued in place. A fiber thread, such as cotton, has its own roughness which acts like a saw during opening. The glue can either be put on the string means prior to attachment or the envelope can be pre-glued at the fold 30 and the string then placed in the fold. Moreover, some plastic materials, such as nylon, can be heat sealed to the fold because of the adhesive qualities of the heated plastic material. The free end 44 of the string means can be secured to the tab in a number of ways. The tab could be glued to the string, could be folded over to receive the string between folds, or the like.

The tab is preferably made of light cardboard or flexible plastic. If the tab is made of plastic, the string means could be cast in the plastic tab. It is preferable for the cardboard or plastic to be sufficiently flexible to enable the envelope to be placed in a typewriter.

In FIG. 4 there is shown another embodiment of the tab. In this embodiment the tab 54 comprises a raised end piece 56 adapted to extend out beyond the closable flap of the envelope. The end piece 56 is made of plastic or other material in which a crest, coat of arms, initials or the like 58 can be molded. Aside from providing an effective opening device, the tab can also be used for decorative purposes. It will be noted that the string means is molded within the plastic tab.

While the preferred forms of the invention have been illustrated in the drawing and discussed above, 7 it should be adequately clear that considerable modification may be made thereto without departing from the principles of the invention.

Therefore, the foregoing should be considered in an illustrative sense rather than a limiting sense. Accordingly, the extent of this invention should be limited only by the spirit and the scope of the claims appended thereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A self-opening envelope comprising an envelope body having three closed edges and an open edge, the envelope body having front and back sides;

a closable flap integrally secured to the front side of the envelope body along the open edge;

adhesive means secured to a portion of the fiap for enabling the flap to be secured to the back side of the envelope body when the flap is closed;

string means having a first and second portion, the first portion being secured to the inside surface of the envelope at the juncture of the closable flap and the open edge of the front side of the envelope body and the second portion of the string means departing from the juncture of the open edge and flap and terminating in a free end, the second portion of the string means and the free end positioned and secured under the flap when the flap is closed and outside the envelope body; and

a tab secured to the free end of the string means and partially positioned and secured under the closable flap when the flap is closed at an angle to the juncture of the closable flap and the open edge, the tab being adapted to break away from the flap and with the second portion of the string to pivot about the first portion of the string to a point on the other side of the juncture line so that as the tab and second portion of the string are pulled back along the juncture line the first portion of the string will rip said juncture and open the envelope.

2. The envelope defined in claim 1 wherein the tab is releasably secured to the flap.

3. The envelope defined in claim 2 wherein the second portion of the string means lies contiguous to the flap when the flap is open and under the flap when the flap is closed.

4. The envelope defined in claim 1 wherein the tab is releasably secured to the back side of the envelope body.

5. The envelope defined in claim 4 wherein the second portion of the string means lies contiguous to the back side of the envelope body in a position which lies under the flap when the flap is closed.

6. The envelope defined in claim 5 wherein the tab includes a finger index means comprising a cutout along the inside edge of the tab, the open side of the cutout facing away from the adjacent side edge of the envelope.

7, The envelope defined in claim 5 wherein the tab has a raised portion extending beyond the edge of the flap, the raised portion adapted to have an insignia imprinted thereon.

8. The envelope defined in claim 1 wherein the tab has a finger index means for enabling the tab to be easily grasped and removed from underneath the flap.

9. The envelope defined in claim 8 wherein the finger index means comprises a cutout along the inside edge of the tab, the open side of the cutout facing away from the adjacent side edge of the envelope.

10. The envelope defined in claim 1 wherein the tab is made of plastic and the free end of the string means is cast in the plastic.

11. The envelope defined in claim 1 wherein the tab has a raised portion extending beyond the edge of the flap, the raised portion adapted to have insignia imprinted thereon.

12. The envelope defined in claim 1 wherein the string means comprises a cotton thread. 

1. A self-opening envelope comprising an envelope body having three closed edges and an open edge, the envelope body having front and back sides; a closable flap integrally secured to the front side of the envelope body along the open edge; adhesive means secured to a portion of the flap for enabling the flap to be secured to the back side of the envelope body when the flap is closed; string means having a first and second portion, the first portion being secured to the inside surface of the envelope at the juncture of the closable flap and the open edge of the front side of the envelope body and the second portion of the string means departing from the juncture of the open edge and flap and terminating in a free end, the second portion of the string means and the free end positioned and secured under the flap when the flap is closed and outside the envelope body; and a tab secured to the free end of the string means and partially positioned and secured under the closable flap when the flap is closed at an angle to the juncture of the closable flap and the open edge, the tab being adapted to break away from the flap and with the second portion of the string to pivot about the first portion of the string to a point on the other side of the juncture line so that as the tab and second portion of the string are pulled back along the juncture line the first portion of the string will rip said juncture and open the envelope.
 2. The envelope defined in claim 1 wherein the tab is releasably secured to the flap.
 3. The envelope defined in claim 2 wherein the second portion of the string means lies contiguous to the flap when the flap is open and under the flap when the flap is closed.
 4. The envelope defined in claim 1 wherein the tab is releasably secured to the back side of the envelope body.
 5. The envelope defined in claim 4 wherein the second portion of the string means lies contiguous to the back side of the envelope body in a position which lies under the flap when the flap is closed.
 6. The envelope defined in claim 5 wherein the tab includes a finger index means comprising a cutout along the inside edge of the tab, the open side of the cutout facing away from the adjacent side edge of the envelope.
 7. The envelope defined in claim 5 wherein the tab has a raised portion extending beyond the edge of the flap, the raised portion adapted to have an insignia imprinted thereon.
 8. The envelope defined in cLaim 1 wherein the tab has a finger index means for enabling the tab to be easily grasped and removed from underneath the flap.
 9. The envelope defined in claim 8 wherein the finger index means comprises a cutout along the inside edge of the tab, the open side of the cutout facing away from the adjacent side edge of the envelope.
 10. The envelope defined in claim 1 wherein the tab is made of plastic and the free end of the string means is cast in the plastic.
 11. The envelope defined in claim 1 wherein the tab has a raised portion extending beyond the edge of the flap, the raised portion adapted to have insignia imprinted thereon.
 12. The envelope defined in claim 1 wherein the string means comprises a cotton thread. 